The Commerce High School football team didn’t have an abundance of time to celebrate its season-opening win over Banks County last Friday.

It was business as usual on Labor Day (Monday) as the Tigers went to work, preparing for their next opponent, Hebron Christian Academy.

The Commerce coaching staff plans on using this week to correct some of the issues the Tigers confronted in their 2014 debut.

Head coach Michael Brown said he was pleased with his team’s effort overall, especially their ability to hang tough and win a close game. But he noted its performance as “sloppy,” as the Tigers had five fumbles, four of which were lost. He also pointed to busted assignments in pass protection and kickoff coverage and pursuit as immediate issues.

“The good part was the effort,” said Brown. “For the most part I thought our kids played extremely hard. When it was gut-check time in the fourth quarter, they managed to pull it out. There were several individuals that had outstanding effort and performances. But it was an extremely sloppy game for us.”

Brown believes the Tigers will need to dial in their performance this Friday if they hope to come out on top in a contest with an invigorated Hebron Christian team.

The Lions struggled to 2-8 last season, falling to Commerce 48-12. But that team is history, as Hebron Christian has won its first two tilts this season by a combined score of 84-29.

Brown said the Lions have added around eight new impact players to the team in 2014, two of whom are massive offensive and defensive linemen. He also pointed to talented skill position players and a speedy defense with a strong linebacker corps.

“What they’ve done is transform that team into a dangerous football team,” said Brown. Defensively, they fly around. I think the key for us this week is to come out and do a much better job with our assignments. I don’t think we can have five fumbles this week and survive. I think this is a football team that will take advantage of everything you give up. They are very good and we are going to have to play our absolute best game to have a chance.”

Until Friday, Brown and the Commerce coaches will encourage players to improve as individuals and work on any areas of concerns.

“The main thing that we try to emphasize to our kids, now that we are in the season and we have a baseline to go from,” said Brown. “We just want to try to identify the areas that we aren’t doing a very good job with and try to get better each week. Once we are in the season we just want you to get better at what you do and improve as an individual, then see if we can get better as a team. If we can start doing that and gelling together as a football team, on down the line, we’ll have some success.”

Commerce vs. Banks County Recap

The Tiger defense made two goal-line stands late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s season opener to clinch a 28-21 win over visiting Banks County.

Commerce players entered the newly-christened Steve Savage field house with their heads held high after emerging victorious in a game that came right down to the wire.

The two teams exchanged punts on each of their opening drives. Commerce dug itself in an early hole after muffing a punt and turning the ball back over to the Leopards. Fortunately for the Tigers, that mistake was quickly erased as Jesse Underhile picked off Banks County quarterback Griffin Goodwin, and took it to the house for six points.

Following another Leopard punt, Commerce strung together a five-play, 42-yard drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Cole Chancey.

The Leopards responded the following drive when Trevae Cain finished a nine-play Banks County drive with a red zone touchdown run, putting the score at 14-7.

The Tiger offense was again struck by a costly fumble as time wound down in the first half. The Leopards capitalized on the opportunity as they put together a six-play 40-yard scoring drive. Cain tied the score up after getting in the end zone from three yards out.

The Leopards got the ball at the half and looked electric after Malcolm Mitchell took a long kickoff return into Commerce territory. However, the Tiger defense made its first big stop of the night, as the Leopards failed to convert on fourth-and-one.

Big plays were common on back-to-back drives as Grant Mayberry broke loose on a 19-yard scoring run for the Tigers. Banks County answered on its next possession when Cain took a 20-yard scurry into the end zone.

The Tiger offense put together another scoring march downfield early in the fourth quarter, capped by a 14-yard Chancey rush to go up 28-21. The Tiger offense would turn the ball over on its final two possessions, forcing the defense to make two red zone stands – the first of which ended on a muffed snap on a Banks County field goal attempt.

With time ticking away, the Leopard offense took one last shot at the end zone, but J’Varius Wood intercepted Goodwin’s pass, sealing a 28-21 Commerce win.
Chancey led the Tiger offense with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while Will Thomas ran for 56 yards on 15 rushes. Chancey and Hunter Wilkes led the Tiger defense with eight tackles each.

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